This invention relates to chair control mechanisms. In particular, this invention relates to improvements in the adjustment handle of a chair control mechanism.
Chair control mechanisms are used to connect the leg of a chair to a chair seat and in some cases to the backrest of a chair such as the type of chair commonly referred to as an office chair. These control mechanisms are manufactured and assembled in a metal forming and stamping operation and commonly comprise a seat support member that is pivotally mounted on a leg mounting member and an adjustment screw, compression spring and handle that cooperate with one another to preload the chair control mechanism to control the movement of the seat support member with respect to the leg mounting member.
For aesthetic purposes, it is common practice to paint the handle so that it is colour coordinated with the colour of the chair control mechanism or the colour of the fabric of the chair in which the control mechanism is incorporated in use. The manufacturer of chair control mechanisms frequently finds that quality control complaints are received because the paint applied to the handle is scratched or otherwise damaged during the assembly of the chair control mechanism and/or the shipping of the control mechanism to the chair manufacturer or during the assembly of the chair. As a result, the manufacturer of chair control mechanisms generally produces a greater number of handles than might otherwise be required in order to provide a ready source of replacements.
To provide for the ease of manual manipulation, the handle is generally quite large with the result that it is susceptible to damage by contact with other objects during the assembly of the chair control mechanism and the shipping and handling of the preassembled control mechanism and the installation of the control mechanism into a chair.